Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Cultural and Individual Factors Influencing Test Anxiety: A Concurrent Mixed Method Study of Saudi High School Students’ Perceptions of Test Anxiety in English and Math(Howard University, 2024) Albalawi, Yusra; Picho-Kiroga, KatherineThe purpose of this study was to investigate the level of test anxiety that high school male and female students experience in English and mathematics classes in Saudi high schools. The study examined test anxiety in both subjects from motivational antecedents and cultural factors that cause test anxiety among students. A mixed-methods study was designed, with quantitative data collected on structured instruments. Test anxiety was measured on the Test Anxiety Inventory (TIA) from a total of 280 high school students in grades 9 through 12 recruited from public high schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Qualitative data were collected using focus group interviews with 20 students (10 male, 10 female) selected from a sample pool of 280 students by a systematic random sampling procedure. The quantitative data were analyzed with means, t-test (independent and dependent sample), one-way ANOVA, and hierarchical linear regression. The results indicated a moderate level of test anxiety in all students, with male students experiencing higher test anxiety than female students. Moreover, higher test anxiety was observed in English than in mathematics. Motivation and cultural factors are substantial sources of test anxiety among students, and success expectancies were negatively correlated with test anxiety in mathematics and English; however, task value was positively correlated with math test anxiety. Collective social stigma was the only predictor found to be significantly predictive of English and math test anxiety. Five themes emerged from qualitative data: high-stakes tests, subject-induced anxiety, family and social bonding, incompetence and nervousness, and future aspirations and value of the exams. The study concluded that test anxiety is common among Saudi high school students, but that gender and subject differences exist, caused by several cultural and motivational factors.51 0Item Restricted FACTORS INFLUENCING INFORMATION ADOPTION FROM SOCIAL MEDIA: THE CASE OF HEALTH INFORMATION IN SAUDI ARABIA.(Aston University, 2024) Almalki, Saad; Uren, Victoria; Hull, MatthewThe current study aimed to further understand attitudes toward source credibility by studying it in the context of social media use as a health information source among social media users in Saudi Arabia. During COVID-19 outbreak, the social isolation that people experienced led to social media being widely used as a medium for disseminating health information, and this has now become increasingly prevalent. Specifically, this study set out to identify which factors influenced the positive adoption of health information from social media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopted a mixed methods design through using an online questionnaire, incorporating a novel vignette design, to gather quantitative data, and follow- up interviews for collecting qualitative data. The designed vignettes were a set of verified and unverified profiles on social media belonging to medical and non-medical experts. Based on collecting data from 397 participants to the questionnaire and 23 interviews, interesting findings were revealed. The study provides empirical support for the influence of source characteristics as heuristics to guide information adoption. Characteristics including sources’ knowledge, qualifications, verification mark and similarity between receiver and sender influence people’s attitudes towards source credibility. Furthermore, the findings confirmed that characteristics of information/content have a significant influence on participants' use of social media platforms as a health information sources. Timeliness, completeness, relevance and accuracy, are confirmed to influence people's attitudes toward adopting health information from social media platforms. It is believed that the current study is one of the few empirical studies to have examined the factors influencing the adoption of social media information by implementing a novel vignette design within a questionnaire. Hence, this study might make a methodological contribution with regard to using vignette design within quantitative methods. Furthermore, there also practical contributions can be made to policy makers with regard to employing social media to convey health and other types of information to the Saudi population..28 0